Greenwood, Missouri January 10, 2019: Medical history was made in December 2018 when the first successful use of the revolutionary snakebite kit, Venom LOCC®, was reported to Midwest Tongs™, Inc. owner and president, Dana Savorelli. Midwest Tongs™, Inc. is the sole manufacturer of the Venom LOCC® device, which is made and distributed from Greenwood, Missouri.

In the first reported case of its use, J.D.*, a 45 year-old New Mexico man used a Venom LOCC® device after being bitten on the right hand by a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus Atrox). The bite occurred on December 15, 2018 at 5:20 pm (MT) while the man was cleaning up a debris pile. The device was applied within 5 minutes of the bite and J.D. was driven to the emergency room at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in Roswell, New Mexico. The device is believed to have trapped the venom at the site of the bite thus preventing the patient from experiencing the life-threatening effects of the venom. The first doses of CroFab® antivenom were administered at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center. It was only after the device was removed that those effects began to appear and J.D. was airlifted to University Medical Center Lubbock in Lubbock, Texas for additional care. In all, J.D. received 12 vials of CroFab® antivenom. Incredibly, J.D. was released directly from the Intensive Care Unit at UMC Lubbock to his home the next day. At twenty-one days post bite, J.D reported that he has recovered about ninety-eight percent of the full use of his hand and remarkably there was no tissue loss. He is expected to make a full recovery. Bites by this species of rattlesnake often have very destructive effects to the tissue surrounding the wound and, in some reported cases have been fatal. The data recorded from this incident seems to indicate that Venom LOCC® performed exactly as it was designed to and the positive outcome indicates even more need for research into this method of snakebite first-aid.

Estimates place the annual number of deaths due to snakebite at somewhere between 1.2 million and 5.5 million. Those that survive a venomous bite may face the loss of tissue or even an appendage. One of the most dangerous factors in a snakebite emergency is the systemic shock that can occur within minutes of the bite as venom reaches the vital organs. Low blood pressure and impaired breathing can lead to cardiac arrest within minutes. Within the United States, over ninety-five percent of fatal bites are caused by the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) and the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) species. While antivenom is available and can save lives, it is only effective if the patient can reach care before the venom reaches the vital body systems it was designed to attack.

Venom LOCC®, which means Localized Circular Compression, is a revolutionary approach to the first-aid treatment of snakebite. Traditional methods have included the use of cutting, suctioning and tourniquets, all of which have now been rejected by the medical community as ineffective. Venom LOCC® was designed by emergency room physician and toxicologist Jason B. Hack, MD based upon his research findings that demonstrated a significantly reduced risk of shock and death when venom is trapped at the site of a snakebite. By preventing the venom’s distribution throughout the body, VENOM LOCC® delays life-threatening symptoms that could occur, primarily shock and respiratory arrest, and allow the victim more time to reach emergency medical care.

Dana Savorelli’s company, Midwest Tongs™,Inc. undertook the effort to fully design, develop and market the device based upon Dr. Hack’s research in an effort to make the new life-saving technology available to the public. Savorelli is the founder of the United States Snakebite Research Team and serves on the of the board of directors of the non-profit, Animal Venom Research International. He is dedicated to the reduction of loss of life to snakebites worldwide through his many business and philanthropic endeavors. Midwest Tongs™, Inc. is the sole manufacturer of Venom LOCC®. Midwest Tongs™, Inc. is a manufacturer of animal handling equipment and is located in Greenwood, Missouri.

(* - Per HIPPA guidelines, the patient has requested to remain anonymous to the general public, however he did consent to the release of his initials, age, basic treatment information and state of residence for the purpose of this release>)